We are organising the release function for our recent publication Agricultural Atlas of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday June 1 from 4.30 pm onwards at the auditorium of IGNCA, Janpath. I am attaching the formal invitation letter in Hindi and English. It also gives details of the Atlas.

It shall be an honour if those of you who are or happen to be in Delhi on that day could spare some time to attend the function.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

It's rather ironic that the US, which prides itself on being the world's most advanced democracy, has fallen prey to the Sonia way of doing things behind a Purdah, in the form of Hillary Clinton:

Both of these ladies have indictments in their future. It's just a matter of time. Even undersecretary Robin Raphel had the same problem, and she's likewise facing prosecution over divulging state secrets. Talk about a Trifecta. The chickens are coming home to roost.

A criminal indictment against Hillary could completely derail her presidential campaign, and effectively hand the US presidential race over to Donald Trump.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Imperialist China: India had to stave China off to sign Chabahar agreement with Iran. Japan is said to be contemplating developing the port and an industrial complex in the free trade zone.

Modi's defence report card: From about 1.8% of GDP in the UPA's last two Budgets, defence allocations declined to 1.73% in Modi's first two Budgets; and just 1.65% of GDP this year.

Fearless warriors: That day a lone Gurkha took out 30 Taliban using every weapon within reach

While there is no pill for every ill, there is an ill following every pill: Western science went terribly wrong in treating this universe as a separate non-living entity where man has a right to exploit nature for his benefit... When we teach physiology in medical school, we never stress the inherent capacity of the human body to correct itself without outside help. It is only in an unlikely event that an outside help (doctor) gets to help the system.

ISRO official K. Sivan said that the shuttle had survived the flight.
"We have located the place where the vehicle is floating. The landing was soft and the vehicle did not break," Sivan told the AFP news agency.

I don't know if they're going to re-use the original flight article for the further tests, but the project is already plumbing the depths of cheapness, with a total cost so far of Rs.95 Crores (just over $14M USD) - and that includes the cost of constructing the building where RLV-TD was fabricated.

Next month in June, India will be testing a scramjet engine (Supersonic Combustion Ramjet, designed to operate at hypersonic speeds in the thin upper atmosphere). It will be launched on a sounding rocket, and then activated as it picks up speed on the way down. Once that basic validation test has been completed, that scramjet engine will later eventually be mounted on the RLV-TD winged vehicle for its scramjet propulsion test (SPEX - the Scramjet Propulsion Experiment). Before that SPEX test occurs, 2 other tests must first occur. The RLV-TD will be fitted with landing gear and dropped from a transport plane to prove that it can land on a runway (LEX - the Landing Experiment). Next, RLV-TD will be fitted with a conventional turbojet engine and will take off from the runway, perform flight maneuvers and then return to land on the runway (REX - the Return flight Experiment). It is after LEX and REX have been done, that SPEX will go ahead: the RLV-TD will take off from a runway using a regular turbojet, then accelerate towards the upper atmosphere, and activate its scramjet engine to accelerate to hypersonic speed, before finally coming back down and landing on the runway like an ordinary aircraft.

ISRO's goal in doing these experiments, is to develop and build a reusable launch vehicle that can provide low-cost access to space. This vehicle itself is likely to have a progressive path - it will start out as a shuttle-style spaceplane that would be mounted on top of a large Solid Rocket Booster like the S-200 which is used in the GSLV Mark-III. This would enable the spaceplane - about 6 times larger than RLV-TD - to be launched to space, carrying satellites, and then later even astronauts after being man-rated. Eventually, that non-reusable solid rocket booster would be replaced with kerosene-burning rocket engines and/or a scramjet-powered flight stage.

Additionally, Dr Sivan has mentioned various cost-cutting ideas being looked at to make ISRO more competitive on launch costs in the near-medium term, due to the emergence of SpaceX as a powerful new competitor in the launch market:

In this experimental mission, the HS9 solid rocket booster carrying RLV-TD lifted off from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 07:00hr IST. After a successful flight of 91.1second, HS9 burn out occurred, following which both HS9 and RLV-TD mounted on its top coasted to a height of about 56 km. At that height, RLV-TD separated from HS9 booster and further ascended to a height of about 65km.

From that peak altitude of 65 km, RLV-TD began its descent followed by atmospheric re-entry at around Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound). The vehicle’s Navigation, Guidance and Control system accurately steered the vehicle during this phase for safe descent. After successfully surviving a high temperatures of re-entry with the help of its Thermal Protection System (TPS), RLV-TD successfully glided down to the defined landing spot over Bay of Bengal, at a distance of about 450km from Sriharikota, thereby fulfilling its mission objectives. The vehicle was successfully tracked during its flight from ground stations at Sriharikota and a shipborne terminal. Total flight duration from launch to landing of this mission of the delta winged RLV-TD, lasted for about 770seconds.

In this flight, critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance & control, reusable thermal protection system and re-entry mission management have been successfully validated.

ISRO acknowledge the support of Indian coast guard and National Institute of Ocean technology (NIOT) for the mid sea wind measurement and shipborne telemetry respectively in this mission.

The RLV-TD was launched at 7AM IST, and ISRO declared the test to be a success 20 minutes later, after the vehicle landed in the sea along the intended flight path:

Kerbal Space Program is a popular videogame with a large fan community, and is a great educational tool for kids and aspiring armchair rocket scientists who wish to dabble in spaceflight without leaving the safety of their bedrooms:

Unfortunately, this test vehicle will be ditched in the ocean, so this is the last you're likely to see of this particular vehicle. Fortunately, a twin has been built which will be re-used again and again for the further test flight experiments.

As we know, reusability is considered a key means of achieving cost-savings, since ISRO currently throws away each and every rocket it launches. The upcoming RLV-TD test is meant to pave the way for a larger winged launch vehicle, which may take 10 years to develop.

While politicians scramble to cater to farmers due to their large electoral worth, what's lost in the melee is the fact that farming is a very fragile, antiquated and low-profit livelihood, at the mercy of things like seasonality and weather conditions. Manufacturing, by contrast, is not hostage to those things, and offers higher profit-margins by being more value-added.

Modi's govt has come up with the "Make in India" campaign to promote and incentivize manufacturing. What might be even more useful is to have a program which specifically targets farmers to incentivize them in particular to shift out of farming and into manufacturing. The more farmers who successfully transitioned into manufacturing, the more they would taste the benefits of it and inform each other by word-of-mouth, to encourage a trend. Continuing to dole out subsidies to farmers so that they can continue to tread water and maintain their subsistence-level livelihoods is a waste which only encourages them to lean on the govt and pursue dependency, which only squanders valuable resources that could be more productively channeled elsewhere. In the zero-sum game of politics, shrinking the farmer lobby could help to boost the manufacturing sector all the more quickly. Shrink the flab, grow the muscle.

India's Big Battle: Development Vs. Pollution: "Air pollution is a reality because it's now affecting your kids, you can feel how it affects you, and it's a very tangible thing that people have in their minds and can experience."

Amazon.com: Bharatgopal's review of Rainbow Body and Resurrection: "Christianity is desperate. Let us be honest here. Christianity is dead in Europe. In the US, it is just politics. As a religion, Christianity needs more souls. More souls have to be hunted in so called "third world countries". One way to achieve this is to get under the skin of dharmic culture/tradition which are built around their philosophies and show the locals - hey look, Christianity is not a foreign religion after all. In fact Christianity is same as Hinduism, Buddhism. It doesn't matter if you convert. We all are same.. Nice try though".

I was honoured when Sadiq asked me to join his campaign for the party’s mayoral nomination as a senior advisor. What happened next was deeply troubling. Supporters of Mr Corbyn took to social media to warn that my appointment would upset Muslims (the language used was much coarser) and might damage Sadiq. My ‘crime’, in the eyes of some of them, was to have worked hard to make Mr Modi’s visit to the UK a success.

Jeremy Corbyn and his clique may be the most virulently anti-Hindu leadership the Labour Party has ever seen. It's under his watch that a spate of anti-semitic utterances have been spouted by various Labour Party officials. Similar attitudes are present towards Hindus - basically anybody who's seen as being in conflict with the Muslim lobby. This faction of Labour sees Muslims as part of their core loyalist base.

California is currently debating the portrayal of Indian history in their school textbooks

California is currently debating the portrayal of Indian history in their school textbooks. A small group of South Asia studies faculty had asked the California Board of Education (CBE) to remove references to "India" and "Hinduism" and to replace them with the words "South Asia" and "Ancient Indian Religion." Opposing these edits, a group of academics under "Scholars for People" had initiated a petition, which was signed by more than 25,000 people within a few days.

In the latest development, the "Scholars for People" have sent their "final letter" to CBE on May 10, urging the board to portray Hinduism in an unbiased manner and to not erase references to India.

Here is the copy of the final letter sent by the "Scholars for People."

Dear Members of the Instructional Quality Commission:

We are a group of scholars and faculty with interdisciplinary training and expertise in history, archaeology, religious studies, postcolonial studies, media and cultural studies and education (with specialist credentials in the teaching of K-12 history). We have, to our record, several publications on India and Hinduism in scholarly circles and in the full gaze of scrutiny of the public sphere. While we are well aware of current debates in the field of South Asia Studies and several of us teach and conduct research at the university level, some of us are also active public intellectuals and are conscious of the fact that translating academic debates for use in the context of the K-12 curriculum requires a different set of sensitivities and insights, which are sometimes lost when university professors enter such debates.

For one thing, it is unfortunate that some of your perceptions of this issue have tended, inaccurately, to believe that SAFG represents the full range of scholarly opinion on Indian history today. They do not, and in fact, several of their recommendations represent highly contested, contentious, and archaic positions in many cases. In the past, the IQC has received letters from several independent scholars, as well as the Uberoi Foundation, which is guided by renowned archaeologists and historians, and yet a misperception has persisted that this is a conflict between "scholarship" and "community" at best. We hope this letter will make the facts of who we are and what we stand for a little clearer. In addition to being a group of well-credentialed scholars, we also have widespread community support. This is evident from the 24,763 signatures of support received on our online petition on Change.org(https://www.change.org/p/academia-don-t-replace-india-with-south-asia-in-california-history-textbooks?)

We must therefore point out that some claims that might be presented by some university professors as "consensus" in their field, might well be only a form of dogma, and at the heart of several positions being fought for in the South Asia studies dogma today, is a reckless allegation about Hindus and Hinduism sharing common origins with Nazis and Nazism, and maybe even worse. Scholars like Wendy Doniger, for example, have written that the "Vedic drive toward wandering … had developed into what the Nazis called… Anschluss" [1]and have also made comparisons to the Native American genocide, and other scholars like Sheldon Pollock (credited as a consultant in the SAFG letters)

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We recognize that deeply held beliefs in any institution are slow to change. Higher education can take its time as necessary before it comes around to revising its current positions. However, it is important that we should forge a way ahead at this time for California's schoolchildren that transcends the currently polarized atmosphere. The entrenched resistance to honest debate and change among some of our South Asia studies colleagues should not be used to perpetuate ignorance any longer, and certainly not in the lives of 12 year old children who deserve better than an obscure, rusty, colonial-era racist paradigm that blames Hinduism for Hitler!

We therefore wish to place on record with you in the clearest possible terms our concerns about several errors, inconsistencies, self-contradictions and omissions evident in the three submissions made to you by the South Asia Studies Faculty (in November 2015, February 2016, and finally on March 23, 2016), and to urge you to reconsider some of your earlier decisions. While we appreciate the fact that the IQC in its March 24 meeting addressed a few of our concerns emanating from the CHSSP's overwhelming last-minute acceptance of the South Asia Studies group edits related to its November 2015 recommendation that "most references to India before 1947 should be changed to South Asia" (p. 12), it is imperative for you to reconsider several of your apparent assumptions and prior positions in order to bring your hard work to fruition.

In our view, the IQC's review on March 24th gave undue weight to the "South Asia Faculty Group" and largely ignored the submissions by Scholars for People, the Uberoi Foundation scholars, HEF, and almost all of the public commentary. There were many occasions during the discussions when the members of the IQC, CHSSP, and the publisher teams clearly admitted their lack of knowledge of the historic points being debated and gave undue deference to the scholars of the "South Asia Faculty Group" at the cost of considering the views of other scholars. As a result of this bias towards the SAFG, many edits were accepted that, as we show in the Appendix, are factually incorrect or at the very least severely confuse political, geographic and civilizational references. For example, the IQC decided to change "India" to "India (South Asia)" in most cases in an apparent bid to accommodate the SAFG and also not violate content standards. This move cannot be justified by either scholarly rigor or by community sentiment. It is singularly discriminatory considering that such a change is not being made for other ancient but still living civilizations whose borders may have changed over time such as China.

We have reviewed every edit that was discussed by the IQC (as listed in March 24th meeting's Summary of Actions). We understand the challenging situation presented to you by the submission of multiple edits by various scholars, parents and community groups, and we have in the attached appendix evaluated several of these to offer our best recommendation (and avoid the unfortunate deletion of several important changes on the grounds of there simply being "conflicting suggestions"). We hope you will find our scholarly evaluations, easy-to-compare presentation format, as well as recommended actions helpful (Appendix C). Finally, we wish to convey our appreciation to you for not closing this issue prematurely and for revisiting your earlier decisions. We cannot emphasize enough how important it is for the IQC to treat the Indian American community with the same respect and fairness that other communities are treated in the process, and hope that our additional scholarly input will help you do your best for California's school children.

Sincerely,

Vamsee JuluriProfessor of Media Studies and Asian StudiesUniversity of San Francisco

About Myself :- When I joined the University, I was an apolitical person. Because I also belong to a poor family...

About Myself :-

When I joined the University, I was an apolitical person. Because I also belong to a poorfamily so my sympathies are always with the downtrodden sections. I wanted to work sincerely for the empowerment of marginalized sectors and also fight for their cause actively.At this point of time, I came closer to the ideology of SFI, which appealed to me because it speaks about the revolution of proletariat and saving the poor from exploitation. I became the active worker and wholeheartedly started working for SFI. As per the decisions taken by the SFI, I also contested for the post of General Secretary and I won. Presently, I am a General Secretary of HCU students union.

About Present Affairs Of SFI :-

The present state of affairs at SFI, HCU unit reflects a murky state. After working for the quite some time in SFI, I realized that the office bearers of the Union cannot express their voice independently. Even the common workers follow the directions from the top brass without questioning. Now, I understand the politics of SFI are not based on principles but opportunistic.The process starts right from the selection of the candidates for union elections,wherein caste and communal cards are played heavily. Similarly, region and religion are also major above politics of caste, community and religion.

It appeared to me strange that one hand we fought against ASA and on other hand, a JAC isformed with a different sole motive. Initially, I thought that the fight is really for the socialjustice,which I whole heartedly support even today. However, slowly I felt that the Students Union is effectively hijacked by JAC to mount continuously attack on selectedpersons. Common students are misguided through daily stories which are mostly untrue and in the nature of fiction. These stories are imaginary and in the nature of individual tales of alleged discrimination by faculty and students against certain sections. As far as myexperience goes these stories including the videos of individual narrations including those of atrocities by police are spread through the media only to generate sympathy and garner undue mileage. As part of this false propaganda, SFI has forgotten its true purpose of serving the students. The JAC or for that matter the SFI unit at HCU are controlled by external forces and dance on their tunes. The voice of own cadres have no value and when I tried to raise my voice, there were no takers. SFI top brass works as dictators and they led the entire environment in the wrong directions apparently to serve the selfish interests and interests of their masters from above. After and before the death of Rohit Vemula, I have seen the developments in the University very closely. I don't feel shame to reveal the truth here that some sections of University teachers are responsible for so called developments in the University Just for their Political Gains. As per my understanding, the movement is massively funded by Congress, Left and opportunist forces of the country.

About Rohit Vemula :-

As per my understanding, Rohit Vemula was a sensitive person.He is active in SFI since few years ago. He also felt isolated and alienated in SFI and could not tolerate the opportunistic politics played by SFI for sheer political gains. That's why in his suicide note he mentioned that an individual is reduced to his immediate identity. Probably, SFI did not find any utility with him through he was fully committed to the ideology and was an active worker. He wasdisillusioned and went to join ASA. It was very unfortunate that he believed in radical methods to achieve justice for the poor. According to me, SFI nurtured the feelings of hatred in him which he was displaying against to all others whom to be his enemies. It is very unfortunate that he committed suicide.

The Agitation And Present Affairs at HCU:-

After long suffering, I realized that SFI and other organizations which are part of JAC, the lives of common students do not matter. They are hell bent in continuing the agitation at anycost because they have taken it to such heights where their existence would be under question, if the agitation is stopped. Certain faculty members and outsiders including politicians are also keen on continuing the agitation. Common students like me whose primary purpose is study are worst affected.

The Contradictions :-

It is also surprising for me that on one hand SFI states that it does not support terrorists like Yakub Memon but on the other hand plays opportunistic politics by supporting these people who organize Namaz-E-Zanaja in memory of Yakub Memon, wherein he has glorified as a martyr (Shaheed). SFI is selective in supporting a program on its political convenience. The office bearers of Student Union have no independence and forced to obey the directions of external forces from CPI(M) and Congress.

It is also surprising to me that on the one hand the JAC demands justice for Rohith Vemulabut doesn't co-operate in the enquiry conducted by judicial commission which is headed by retired High Court Judge, who is an independent person. On one hand, a member of JAC and leader of ASA files cases under SC/ST Atrocities Act against certain persons but doesn't want to come clean on the caste of Rohith Vemula. It is also surprising that JAC or ASA are not demanding CBI enquiry into the circumstances in which Rohith Vemula committed suicide. The leaders of JAC & SFI, make serious allegations against certain professors which are actively supported by faculty who have vested interest but not came forward either to prove the allegations or hold discussions to solve the program. Most important, it is very painful for me to see that students don't show respect to the professors and call them by names without having any evidence of discrimination for such professors. It is also painful to note that students are instigated to indulge in vandalism by the leaders of JAC, SFI & ASA and others to destroy the University which belongs university community. I wish that the massive money support to the agitation should also come into light. Daily rent of tent is around five thousand and three months have been passed already. Lavish food is served for more than 10 days to the student's community for free of cost. Large scale events are organized. Certain individual members of the movement are having daily lavish parties. Rallies are organized periodically and outside leaders are invited. Thousands of color posters are printed & distributed. From where is it coming? As a participant of the moment, I confirm that massive funds are flowing and keen to know the source of such funds. Beef & Chickens has been served in the event of 125th birth anniversary of Baba Saheb Ambedkar. What is the source of money??

My Opinion:-

The real losers of the entire game are none other than the common students, who have suffered in terms of placements. Reputed companies like Oracle has refused to come for the campus recruitment and, today, the image of HCU is tarnished and genuine student is having fears in mind whether to join university or not. The students union, which was supposed to be the impartial body taking care of welfare of all the students is hijacked by few individuals and organizations for serving their nefarious activities. I have come forward because I'm not able to stand the contradictions, the wrong methods employed and wrong way in which the moment is being carried forward by JAC,SFI,ASA. My loneliness and alienation are affecting my studies and also apparently driving me towards the unfortunate path undertaken by Rohith Vemula. I think coming into open and getting distanced from the wrong way would save me from the doom.

What I Want?

1. I Request The JAC and its constituents to immediately stop the agitation and adopt constitutional methods for achieving justice for Rohith Vemula. The facts can be presentedbefore the Judicial Commission and also in the cases pending before High Court.

2. JAC/SFI/ASA shall distance themselves from political parties and also professors shall not allow to participate in the agitation because vested interests by certain faculty can causelong term damage to HCU as an institution.

3. JAC/ASA/SFI muststop the name calling the professors including the VC. If the VC is found to be guilty, he would be convicted anyway. Till that time, no one has any right to indict him.

4. JAC/SFI/ASA shall immediately abandon the politics of hatred and adopt politics of co-operation and reconciliation so that HCU can retain its academic superiority.

5. The problems at HCU shall not be looked into from the myopic vision of caste and efforts shall be made by all the students towards academic progress of the university wherein adequate procedures are immediately evolved to safeguard the interests ofmarginalized sections.

6. The Students Union cannot be partial approach. While seeking justice for Rohith Vemula, It Cannot be ignored that another student Susheel Kumar was attacked during midnight by themob of students of ASA. Students Union has to unequivocally condemn to the attack and seek justice for Susheel also. They should demand CBI enquiry in this case.

7. JAC for social justice shall publish its accounts from the death of Rohith Vemula till date to provide the details of sources for arranging the funds.

Lastly, I quote those 11 lines from the suicide note of Rohith Vemula those will justice my words….

"ASA, SFI, anything and everything exist for their own sake. Seldom the interested the person and this organization matched. To get power, to become famous or to be important in between boundaries and to think we are up to changing the system. Very often we overestimate the acts and find solace in traits. Of course, I must give my credit to both groups for making, introducing me to wonderful literature and people.The scribing of the lines shows Rohith's dedication towards the BabaSaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar's thought but the words are clear evidence those shows attitude and activities Of SFI & ASA here in the UOH ASA which claims that the inspiration for them is Baba Sahib BhimRao Ambedkar. At this junction, it is necessary to remember three warnings given by Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar in his constituent assembly on 25th November 1949… "If I wish to maintain democracy, not merely in form but also in fact what must we do?"

The first thing we must do is to hold fast to constitution methods of achieving our social & economical objectives. It means that we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It also means that we must abandon the methods of Civil Disobedience,non-cooperation and Satyagraha. The second thing is we must observe the caution which J.S.Mill has given to all who are interested in democracy namely, not to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great men, or to tryst him with power which enable him to subvert their institutions. The third thing we must do is not to be content with mere political democracy. We must make our political democracy, a social democracy as well".

By these above mentioned views I announce my resignation from SFI and its opportunistic politics.

Nehru's 5-year plans to make way for 15-year 'vision' - Times o...

Five-year plans, one of the last links to Nehru's economic policies, will soon be history. The Narendra Modi...

Five-year plans, one of the last links to Nehru's economic policies, will soon be history. The Narendra Modi government has decided to discontinue the plans after the current one, which ends in March next year, and replace it with a longer vision of 15 years that will factor in social goals and sustainable development goals.

Noose tightens around NGOs receiving foreign funds

NGOs are not finding it easy to garner foreign funds under Narendra Modi government as it is going slow on grant...

2,812 applications seeking registration still pending

NGOs are not finding it easy to garner foreign funds under Narendra Modi government as it is going slow on granting them permission to collect donations from abroad.

The number of organisations that received permission under Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) 2010 has dwindled by more than 50% last year.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), while 757 applications for registration to receive foreign funds were cleared in 2014, the number has come down to 319 in 2015. Similarly, the grant prior permission provision to receive foreign donations came down to 31 last year from 135 the previous year. This year only one application has been cleared by the Ministry.

Since 2013, the Foreigners Division of MHA had received 8,111 applications seeking registration under FCRA 2010 to accept foreign funds. Of this, the government so far rejected 3,051 cases while accepting 2,248 applications. The figures showed 2,812 cases are still pending with the Division.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told Parliament earlier this month that the applications are processed in consultation with security agencies and other ministries and departments.

The Modi government had taken on NGOs on alleged misuse of foreign funding. It had cancelled the registration of Greenpeace India while Teesta Setalvad's NGO is facing trouble. Ford Foundation also found itself in trouble for some time.... deleted

US sources say China's grand plan is to 'eat its cake and have it too', that is reject the Indian application to the NSG on the pretext of neutrality between India and Pakistan and then hope that the neutrality card will stop any Indian commercial blow back on China.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

After becoming mayor of London, Sadiq Khan immediately whined that he wouldn't be able to visit the US if Donald Trump were elected. He also pledged to help Hillary beat Trump in the November elections:

We, the undersigned academics, wish to express our whole-hearted support to Prof. Madhu Kishwar, a prominent academic and public intellectual, ​in her challenge ​to​ the discrimination she has suffered at the hands of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies' administration. We are appalled at the unethical and illegal treatment meted out to her, even though ​the CSDS's administration has not had a single complaint against her through the twenty years that she has served that institution.

This victimization and harassment of Prof. Madhu Kishwar has culminated in the denial of affiliation to CSDS required for her to avail of the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship instituted by the ICSSR. Such a denial is unprecedented since no educational institution in India has ever denied affiliation to an ICSSR fellowship holder, leave alone a National Fellowship awardee of ICSSR. The reason cited for this denial of affiliation is patently absurd, especially when it turns out that in the last fifteen years, CSDS has granted affiliation to scores of scholars, including rank outsiders (details are available here: http://swarajyamag.com/politics/academic-intolerance-csds-denies-affiliation-to-madhu-kishwar-2 ).

Prof. Madhu Kishwar, who pioneered new thinking on women's rights, human rights and issues of social justice, and whose work for the marginalized groups of our society is well known, eminently deserves the ICSSR fellowship. It is hard to believe that an institution claiming to uphold high standards of humanities should have stooped so low simply because Prof. Kishwar does not toe its ideological line. Besides, this act of vindictiveness against her speaks volume​s​ about the hypocrisy of those who have in recent times projected themselves as champions of "tolerance", "debate" and "liberalism".

We call on CSDS's administration to tender an unconditional apology to Prof. Madhu Kishwar and take all steps to rectify this shameful situation.

Dr. M.D. Srinivas, former Vice-Chairman, Indian Institute of Advanced Study; chairman, Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai; member, Indian Council of Historical Research

Prof. M.S. Sriram, retired Professor and Head, Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Madras; member of Editorial Board, Indian Journal of History of Science and Ganita Bharati; former member, Research Council for History of Science, INSA

Prof. K. Ramasubramanian, Cell for Indian Science and Technology in Sanskrit, IIT Bombay; Council member, International Union for History and Philosophy of Science